-- While You Weren t Looking director discusses the art of capturing intimacy on screen --
Tue, 09 Feb 2016 13:36
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SCREEN AFRICA EXCLUSIVE: Catherine Stewart is the director of While You Weren t Looking a South African film which has won a number of awards and is set to travel globally in 2016. This is Stewart s debut feature film, before which she had obtained her Master s degree in Fine Art from Columbia University majoring in directing and screenwriting, and returned to South Africa to direct documentaries, short films and TV dramas.
While You Weren t Looking features the stories of different lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender relationships which intertwine and present themselves in the context of the new South Africa. The film features a number of sex scenes which are notoriously hard to execute, even for a seasoned director like Stewart. Here, she offers some of her thoughts on the experience.
How do you make a sex scene natural when it s the most unnatural situation you could be in?
It s the actors who breathe life and naturalness into a scene of sensual intimacy on screen. All acting is brave, but the vulnerability of being almost naked on set and acting in a sensual and emotional way is extreme. A scene with a sexual encounter between characters requires extra preparation, sensitivity, clarity, and care from a director to be able to ask the actors for the extreme vulnerability they must bring to their performance.
My job as a director is to give the actors whatever they need to feel safe and supported and able to perform in the way that is right for the scene and the character. I ask for a closed set, with as few people present as possible when filming scenes with any kind of nudity. And I make sure that the crew who are present are completely supportive and respectful of the actors. It s the director s job to insist on that, to set the tone and culture on set, and protect the actors.
In the past I have had situations where a producer, who has never shown up on set before that day, suddenly appears, wanting to watch the filming of the sex scene. That kind of voyeuristic gaze has no place on set. I m fierce about protecting actors from that sort of thing. I match their bravery in their craft, their generosity in offering up their emotions and physicality to tell the story with a fierce and respectful protectiveness of them.
I keep the actors covered up as much as possible on set so that even in the outtakes there is no nudity that they aren t comfortable with. The actors wear merkins (pubic coverings) to hide their private parts and I don t shoot anything that isn t absolutely necessary for the scene and the story. My ferocity about this makes the actors feel safe with me and trust me. They know I will protect them, out of respect and honour for what they are offering me and the story.
What is your preparation and rehearsal process like with the actors involved?
Long before we film the sex scene, the actors and I will have spoken at length about every aspect of the characters they are playing in the film s story, so by the time we get to the sex scene, the actors and I understand who the character is, what motivates and affects them, and how their sensual intimacy in the scene is important for the story.
In many ways a sex scene in cinema is a dance between the actors and the camera; it requires rehearsal, timing, blocking, choreographing, storyboarding, and planning. The actors feel safe knowing that I am looking at the frame and lighting and directing their movements very specifically to make sure everything supports the story and drama of the scene. To this end, I block the sex scenes very specifically. For example I ll look at which way the actor s head turns when they go to kiss the other person so that the light works on their faces and so that the frame works for the camera. I ll look at how many kisses they share and for how long. How is their body supported, what do they lean against. All of these details of movement and lighting need to be choreographed and directed.
I keep direction very specific in a sex scene because it is such an intimate form of acting, and I think having the director compose and choreograph and arrange the movements of the actors precisely in a sex scene gives the actors a clear and comfortable frame into which they can then bring their authentic performance.
I always have a very clear plan of how I m going to shoot the sex scenes. Long before we get on set to film it I have worked out with the cinematographer how we re lighting it, what lenses we re using, what kinds of shots I want for the different parts of the scene. I explain the plan to the actors so that they know exactly what to expect, which bits of the scenes they need to perform with which parts of their body and in which order. That way they know what is being seen and what is required for each shot.
How do you ensure that the crew and cast are comfortable enough to portray authentic intimacy?
I make sure we don t shoot the sex scenes on the first few days of the shoot. Initially, a sex scene in While You Weren t Looking was scheduled right at the beginning of the shoot. I spoke to the producers and schedulers and asked them to move it to later, so that by the time we got to the sex scene the actors were very comfortable with their characters, and also with each other, having played many other scenes together. You want the actors to know and trust each other as actors, and to have a working relationship with each other, so that they bring that trusting relationship, that respect, and that knowledge of the relationship between their two characters to the way they play the scene where the two characters interact sensually.
You also want the actors to feel comfortable with the crew and vice versa. After a few weeks of shooting a film, the crew and cast
